Test 2

Please select your preferred language.

請選擇你慣用的語言。

请选择你惯用的语言。

English
中文简体
台灣繁體
香港繁體

Login

Remember Me

New to Fridae?

Fridae Mobile

Advertisement
Highlights

More About Us

23 May 2011

Website for parents and friends of lesbians and gays launched in Vietnam

A website for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) in Vietnam was launched this month in Ho Chi Minh City with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

Accessible via Pflag.vn or its Vietnamese name Hieuvecon.vn to mean “understanding/knowing children”, the PFLAG Vietnam website is set up by the “Information Connecting and Sharing” (ICS) project team that comprises leaders of Vietnam’s four largest LGBT webforums. The project team operates under the Institute for Studies of Society, Economy and Environment (iSEE) an independent and not-for-profit research organisation.

According to a PFLAG Vietnam spokesperson Fridae spoke to, the website now has over 200 registered members but is unable to determine how many are parents or siblings of LGBTs.

ICS describes the PFLAG Vietnam website as the “first concerted effort ever in the country to create a supportive environment for parents and friends of LGBTs, as well as drawing the media and society’s attention to the reality of how kinship and friendship matters to happiness, potential, and positivity of LGBT people’ lives.”


Above: Pflag.vn screenshot. Top of page: Ambassador of Sweden
to Vietnam, Staffan Herrstrom (white shirt, black jacket), President
of iSEE Le Quang Binh (6th from the left), with ambassadors for
PFLAG Vietnam and staff/volunteers of ICS and iSee.
All photos courtesy of ICS.

According to a  survey conducted by iSee and while homosexuality is not illegal in Vietnam, many parents still think homosexuality is a "disease, a fashion or an abnormality"; and Vietnamese LGBTs run into considerable difficulties being who they are with families. Some lesbians were threatened by their families to change their orientation or face being pulled out of school while others were forced into (opposite-sex) marriages.

The Ambassador of Sweden to Vietnam, Staffan Herrstrom, who was present at the launch on May 11, spoke about the importance of strengthening the rights of LGBT persons and the importance of defending LGBT rights saying: “The Government of Vietnam wants a modern equal society which can only be achieved if all persons, regardless of gender, age, disability, ethnicity or sexual orientation are able to fully enjoy their civil rights on equal terms. The commitment is there already through Vietnam signing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Where article 25 clearly states that all persons are equal without any discrimination. Since Vietnam has ratified this Covenant this right obviously is applicable to all of you.

“But the ambition should be broader and higher: A society where LGBT-people never should feel oppressed or socially excluded. A society where diversity is seen as normal. A society where everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, could enjoy the rights to happiness in terms of family, relations and love.”

The ICS project is supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU) which in particular supports ICS in in establishing and running counselling and sexual health services, networking and alliance building activities.

Herrstrom was joined by four other ambassadors for PFLAG Vietnam; Thuy Dung, Miss Vietnam 2008; (Nguyen) Tuan Khanh, a musician; (Pham Gia) Chi Bao, a well-known actor; and Tran Thi Bich Ngoc aka Ploy, a young popular writer, who announced their commitment to voice their support for LGBTs and help promote PFLAG Vietnam’s future activities.

Nguyen Thi Thanh, a 63-year-old PFLAG.vn member and mother of a gay child was quoted as saying: “We parents should be a little bit more tolerant and open-minded. When we cannot change it, we should accept it. Acceptance will help us see other things to sympathise with, things that encourage empathy between parents and their children, and then parents would be able to provide the children with advice on how to lead a better and more useful life of their own.”


Ambassadors for PFLAG Vietnam (left to right): Ambassador
of Sweden to Vietnam, Staffan Herrstrom; Ploy, a young popular
writer and Thuy Dung, Miss Vietnam 2008.

At the launch, President of iSEE Le Quang Binh also shared the results of a study conducted in the beginning of 2011 among 1,000 people living in four cities and provinces of Vietnam, describing how people in general and parents of LGBTs in particular think about homosexuality and gay people.

The following is an excerpt of the The Start of PFLAG Vietnam report:

From stigma within families

Vietnamese LGBTs run into considerable difficulties being who they are with families, when according to a recent study by iSEE, many parents still think homosexuality is a disease, a fashion or an abnormality. 63.1% of the respondents totally agreed that they would be very disappointed if their child was gay, while 43.7% affirmed that they would make their children stay away from friends who are LGBTs. In general, family members do not understand homosexuality and why people are gay, or are afraid of social stigma and pressure. Few of them tolerate homosexuality but they never disclose to others for fear of discrimination and losing face.

A study by iSEE on lesbians in Hanoi reveals that stigma against lesbians is very common, especially the ones who have come out with their families. Family members do not accept their true sexual orientation, which has provoked disapproving reactions such as grievance, forbidding their child to continue relationship with girlfriend or lesbian community, threatening to stop supporting school fees and allowance, and forcing the woman to get married to a man. In some extreme cases, suicide and attempt to commit suicide have happened.

Gay men also experienced stigma mostly from their families and friends. Among 1,800 respondents in a study carried out by iSEE in 2008, 20% of them said they had lost friends due to their homosexuality, 15% said they had been scolded by family members for being gay, and 4.1% kicked out of their house due to their sexual orientation.

PFLAG Vietnam www.pflag.vn is seeking volunteer to run its offline activities, and the PFLAG Vietnam website and webforum.

Vietnam

Reader's Comments

1. 2011-05-23 20:12  
Oh my god, this is super because Vietnam is a [you know] country. Things are changing for the better I hope.
2. 2011-05-23 20:13  
Thank you very much Fridae for reporting this story.
3. 2011-05-23 20:31  
This is great!
4. 2011-05-23 21:00  
It is so beautiful!
5. 2011-05-23 22:20  
the miss 2008 soo tall!!!!!!!!!!
6. 2011-05-23 22:24  
awesome!!!!!
7. 2011-05-23 22:24  
awesome!!!!!
8. 2011-05-23 23:13  
This is brilliant! And to LGBTs, we need to stand strong and be proud of what we are. If we can not walk with a head over our shoulder, theres no way to gain respect from others.
9. 2011-05-24 04:00  
Great news!
10. 2011-05-24 04:06  
Nice, but these articles are always too verbose!
11. 2011-05-24 10:13  
Could this ever happen in Malaysia.....?
12. 2011-05-24 10:19  
@Drelin: If you come from where we are, you will see it as a HUGE progress. And above all, pls note that the site is not for the French's interest in the first place, but it is for Vietnamese LGBTs' parents/family whose understanding about gay community is very limited.

Open your mind!
13. 2011-05-24 13:05  
Great Effort~!!! - Simon (Not Leeb)
Comment edited on 2011-05-24 13:05:59
14. 2011-05-24 15:25  
Well done to PFLAG and SIDA for getting that running.

Does anyone know if such a website or support group meeting exist in KL, Malaysia?
15. 2011-05-24 19:07  
Yes this is good news for LGBTs and their families in Vietnam. My Civil Partner is a wonderful vietnamese man - we have been married now near 5 years and live together in UK. He is fortunate in that his family were always accepting and supportive of him being gay. We visit Vietnam together every year (at Tet holiday usually) and stay with his family in HCM city. All the family and relatives are friendly open and accepting of our gay relationship, and I feel very much part of the family when i am there. I think there is an openness to gay and lesbian people in HCM city, and when there we are always made welcome and feel comfortable.
16. 2011-05-25 00:16  
fyi:

pflag in Taipei, Taiwan:

http://www.hotline.org.tw/front/bin/ptlist.phtml?Category=325767#a3

Please log in to use this feature.

Select News Edition

Featured Profiles

Now ALL members can view unlimited profiles!

Languages

View this page in a different language:

Like Us on Facebook

Partners

 ILGA Asia - Fridae partner for LGBT rights in Asia IGLHRC - Fridae Partner for LGBT rights in Asia

Advertisement